


Cutting Sunshine

by Canadiantardis



Series: Cana's Bad Things Happen Bingo [12]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Branding, Emperor Sendak (Voltron), Gen, Like roughly mid-season 5 and after doesn't happen, Minor Character Death, Now you get to know how long Hunk's been frozen!!, Past Character Death, Prisoner Hunk (Voltron), Prisoner of War, Rescue, Scars, Time Skips, Violence, carved mark, sequel of a one-shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24974344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canadiantardis/pseuds/Canadiantardis
Summary: “Take him to one of the solitary confinement cells and prepare for departure to the Arena.” He ordered, not looking back as arms gripped Hunk and pulled him to his feet none too gently. “It’s time for any dissenters to realize who their new leader is.”//A direct sequel to the previous part - (please don't) Take my Sunshine away
Relationships: Hunk & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt
Series: Cana's Bad Things Happen Bingo [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674190
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	Cutting Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> Here is it folks, aha! The prompt I followed for this was Carved Mark  
> Hope yall enjoy~

Hunk had no interactions with the Galra, other than when they gave him his meals, since he and the Castle of Lions got taken. It was depressing what they gave him. The goo had little to no flavour, other than _awful,_ and it was almost enough to make him cry. He understood he was a prisoner, but even prisoners should be given edible food! This stuff barely constituted the definition meaning of ‘edible.’

But it wasn’t as if he could go into the kitchen and add some flavour to attempt to save his palate. He had very little knowledge of what was going outside his cell, and only knew how many days passed thanks to the light cycle the Castle had.

He had been a Galra prisoner for five days now. From what he could gather when he was given his meals, they were a couple more days away from reaching the emperor and his battleship cruiser. Hunk did the best he could to figure out who this emperor was. He learned at least it wasn’t Lotor, but he wasn’t sure if he was relieved about this fact or not. It meant the others hadn’t been betrayed by the half-Galra, but there was no indication about who the Galra was that took his place.

Resigned to his current fate, Hunk waited it out. He saw no way out of this where he came out more or less unscathed, since he had no weapons, no armour, he wasn’t thin or small enough to sneak through anything, no idea how many enemies there were in the Castle, and no idea where they were in the universe. He still had Yellow, he could feel her presence in his head, as warm as the perfect summer sun. He just hoped it was only he and Yellow that were prisoners, he wasn’t sure what he would do if anyone else was trapped here with him.

On the seventh day, a full week since he had been taken out of the cryopod, Hunk was finally revisited by the Captain woman, who had several sentries and other soldiers flanking her to keep him restrained when he was allowed out of the room that had been his cell for the week. He went hesitantly, his arms held behind his back and put into cuffs, a couple sentries holding his upper arms uncomfortably tight as the rest of the soldiers had their blasters trained on him.

They walked down to the transport shipping docks, the entire group quiet except for the precise steps mixed with Hunk’s shuffling movements. He felt Yellow growl in the back of his head, a warning of some kind but he couldn’t figure out what she was warning her of exactly. All he could do in return was reassure the magic robot Lion that he was okay.

Another large set of soldiers and sentries waited by one of the transport ships, and it seemed he was exchanged between the two groups, although the Captain lady continued with him.

“Keep an eye on the Lion. Make sure it hasn’t escaped its bonds.” She told her subordinates before they gave that odd little salute over their chest and left, while Hunk’s new bunch of guards brought him into the ship and had him sit.

Hunk put up little resistance, but kept an eye on everything that could be useful later. There wasn’t much. He was learning that the Galra woman seemed important - _probably because she would have bragged about capturing a Paladin of Voltron when she took the ship_ \- and that Yellow was being restrained. Anger simmered low in his gut but he tamped it down, hoping to find a way through their bond to reassure Yellow that he’d help her break free once he could get out himself.

He kept his gaze down, forcing himself not to look up at the Galra that surrounded him, as the ship made its way from the Castle of Lions to whatever the emperor resided in.

It didn’t take long at all before they reached their destination and Hunk was brought out of the transport ship. He took in as many details as he could while being pushed to move forward. It looked like the interior of any battleship cruiser he and the others had fought through before. There wasn’t much that looked different, at least in his eyes. He never really saw any differences when it came to most ships, anyway, unless he knew the inner workings.

Hunk kept track of where they walked, building a mental map. There weren’t too many turns or offshoots, it was mainly a straight shot until they reached a large door, which hissed open to reveal the bridge. Galra soldiers and sentries worked without looking up at who entered, except for a couple close to the door.

Hunk didn’t notice the soldiers, his focus on the large form standing in the centre, his arms behind his back loosely, facing out. At least, one arm was loosely behind his back. The other, practically floating with some kind of energy ball between it and the rest of the body, looked too big to even move behind him in a casual way. It was more of a cannon with claw-like pincers to grab things. His hair - _fur?_ Hunk still never knew for sure if it was fur or hair on the Galra - was longer, scruffier and a lot more wild than the last time Hunk had seen him before.

Someone kicked him in the back of the knees and he dropped heavily to a kneel with a grunt just as the large form of Sendak turned around to face him, his expression turning from neutral to that familiar, cruel grin, his fangs a little more pronounced.

“Emperor Sendak.” The Captain lady said respectfully, and Hunk’s blood ran cold. He stared at the Galra who had always been the biggest enemy Voltron had not been able to defeat yet for good. _He_ was the leader of the Galra now? Hunk worried about what could have happened to Lotor, and about just how long he had been in that pod. It had to have been several months at least. “This is the Yellow Paladin, as we have discussed.”

“Ah, so this is the elusive Yellow Paladin.” Sendak stepped off the little platform and approached him, and Hunk found himself somewhat holding his breath as he watched him. Sendak brought his floating cannon-pincer-arm up and it shot out to wrap the pincers around Hunk’s body faster than he could even react, pulling him closer to the new Galra leader. “It’s good to finally meet face-to-face.”

Hunk tried to wiggle out of the artificial grip, but couldn’t find any purchase. “You’re the emperor?” He asked in a grunt, leaning back as far as he could from the Galra holding him with his artificial arm.

Sendak smiled with too many teeth. “Took a few deca-phoebs. Are you surprised?”

_Deca-phoebs? That’s like, a year equivalent._ Hunk’s eyes widened. _How long had he been in that pod?!_

Sendak noticed his expression and laughed low, looking behind him to the Captain lady. “I take it what you said was true about keeping him frozen until recently, Commander Zaka?”

“Yes, my lord.” The Galra woman - now a Commander, apparently - said formally.

“Good.” He turned his attention back onto Hunk and lifted him easily into the air. “Pity your friends aren’t here now with you.”

Hunk yelped when Sendak suddenly dropped him, turning around without a care about his prisoner. “Take him to one of the solitary confinement cells and prepare for departure to the Arena.” He ordered, not looking back as arms gripped Hunk and pulled him to his feet none too gently. “It’s time for any dissenters to realize who their new leader is.”

xXx xXx

Hunk really had to wonder about why the Galra prison uniforms were a long-sleeved unitard and a practically flimsy crop top-like large rags of another shade of purple. It made no sense to him, but he had no one to ask what function they served. His cell was completely isolated from the other cells he had been brought passed. He had a couple guards stay with him as he changed, but as soon as he was in the prison garb and the medical suit was taken away, he was left alone in his cell.

It wasn’t large, either, the cell. Hunk could take maybe four mid-steps from wall to wall, and he could stretch out his arms and graze his middle fingers on both walls if he stood in the very middle of the cell. He couldn’t say it was the most comfortable living space he had been forced to be in, and he only hoped he wouldn’t be in here for too long. He doesn’t think he’d get much sleep in this place, either way.

He sat against one of the walls, deciding to wait it out again. It was honestly frustrating that he couldn’t find a way out of this. He was sure he could overpower some of the guards, but he wasn’t sure about the layout of the ship, nor did he know of the routes and timing of the soldiers. It would just be asking for some kind of punishment for attempting to escape, and he had no idea what they would do to a Paladin of Voltron.

With a frustrated huff, Hunk turned his attention on the conversation he had had - _it hadn’t really been a conversation, it was more things were said at him_ \- with Sendak. If what he said was true, Hunk really had been put into a cryopod for years, like Allura had been. _How many years had passed for everyone else?_ It was hard to tell with the Galra, the non-robotic ones seemed to age slowly. Sendak hardly looked different outside his hair or fur or whatever it was, and Hunk hadn’t seen what the Galra woman had looked like when he had been knocked out before all this happened so he couldn’t tell if she had changed much between now and then.

A sudden thought came to him. _How long ago did the others lose the Castle of Lions?_

Hunk groaned, finding himself getting a headache with all the unanswered questions. He’d get nowhere by asking these questions to no one but himself since he had no way to know the answers. He just had to hope someone, or something, would give them to him and let him know what he wanted to know.

He dropped his head back, sighing as he shut his eyes. He doubted he’d be able to sleep, but it was the only thing he could do to pass the time. Maybe he’d be able to think of a solution out of this mess too, though as much as he wished he’d be optimistic about it, he couldn’t find much hope for the bright side of things by himself here.

xXx xXx

The Arena that Sendak spoke of was an almost dead planet. The only thing on the planet, like the rock that had held the Galra’s Kral Zera, was a stadium-like building. It was huge.

Hunk watched as the battleship was brought closer to the stadium, stopping just before it, then he was forced to walk to a Galra transport ship where Sendak seemed to be waiting for him. He didn’t say a word as Hunk was pushed into the ship, but suddenly wrapped his artificial arm around him from behind. Hunk felt the heat of the cannon portion of the arm make him uncomfortably warm from the back. _A warning, to be sure._

He was made to stand beside Sendak the entire descent onto the planet, and once they reached the surface of the planet, right outside the stadium, he was made to move forward. Even if he tried to resist, Hunk found he was more or less being dragged ahead of the current Galra Emperor. His feet could barely touch the ground.

They made their way to the front of the stadium, and the sounds of Galra shouting, screaming, hollering and yelling from the stands echoed throughout the place. It sounded like cheering, raucous and surrounding them as they made their way to what looked like a podium at one end of the stadium, a raised platform perfect for giving speeches or whatever else.

Sendak brought Hunk down on the platform, a little to the side and forced him on his knees. He turned to the other Galra that accompanied them from the ship. “I want this to be broadcasted everywhere. Any open frequency or closed frequencies we can get into will show this moment for any wannabe rebels or those trying to hide.”

“Vrepit sa.” A few of the Galra saluted and moved away. Hunk couldn’t see where they went, unable to move much besides shift from foot to foot, or knee to knee as the case would be.

It was a few minutes later before he heard the Galra speak again, letting Sendak know that he was being broadcasted now.

Hunk did not pay the closest amount of attention to the speech Sendak began saying, but understood the tone, the harshness of his words, and how he would tighten his grip around Hunk’s body painfully where he would have to bite his lip from making a sound.

That was, until he was hoisted up like Simba, obviously being put on display for where the cameras were or whatever was broadcasting Sendak’s speech.

“Anyone who tries to defy me will end up like this creature. Once a worthy opponent, along with his allies, Voltron... Now my prisoner.” Sendak proclaimed as Hunk struggled, wishing for his feet to be on the floor but couldn’t do much with his arms pinned behind his back, between his body and the cannon-arm. “And so _none_ of you will forget, I will show what resistance will get any who are caught.”

Hunk was moved backwards, his feet just barely grazing the ground below him. He couldn’t tell what was happening, even as he struggled and twisted and turned to try to see what what going on before suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from his back, just over his left shoulder blade. His instinct was to gasp, but then the pain _dragged_ downwards and the scream was escaping him before he even knew he had opened his mouth. His struggling increased as he tried desperately to escape his bonds, the arm keeping him in place, and whatever blade was being used on his back. There were short seconds of reprieve before the blade sliced through both the fabric around his shoulder blade, and the actual skin, and by the third painful stroke, Hunk blacked out, coming to panting heavily and his entire shoulder feeling as if it were on fire. Every movement was agony and he screwed his eyes shut tight. The only thing holding him up now was Sendak’s arm, and Hunk was sure as soon as he let go of him, he would topple forward.

“Let this be a warning to any who would dare defy me and my reign.” He vaguely heard Sendak before a roar of cheering overwhelmed him and Hunk found it much more desirable to be unconscious than continue to feel this agony.

xXx xXx

_Tactactac_

Nothing, still. A hand pushed up the useless glasses to rub the sore and tired eyes behind them. It was late. Everyone else had gotten to sleep.

A faint ping catches the tired eyes. That was for any information about either the Castle of Lions or…

Hands hovered over the keyboard, quickly checking out what got the ping to go off when a screen was pulled up.

A gasp, hands over mouth. He looked like he hadn’t aged since he had been taken. Just a teenager trying to survive a war they had all unknowingly entered before they had been ready. A teenager, now being held by the monster that had not only conquered their home planet and enslaved the entire human race, but managed to win the Kral Zera once he and other Galra leaders stabbed Lotor in the back.

A teenager who screamed so loudly all thoughts of sleep were long forgotten as the monster dragged a large, bloodied dagger down his back, evidently taking pleasure in his pain. Another camera shot was taken over Sendak, pointing down at the marking he was making on his victim’s shoulder blade.

It was a bloody, jagged, deeply carved mark of the Galra symbol.

The teen slumped forward within the monster's artificial arm's grip, panting heavily before he went boneless, probably passing out from the pain.

“Let this be a warning to any who would dare defy me and my reign.” The monster said, staring at the camera with a vicious grin, and seconds later, the broadcast was finished.

Lightyears away from the origin of that transmission, Pidge cried loudly. Whether it was in sympathy to her missing friend’s pain, or in joy to know he was still alive, _really alive_ , she couldn’t be sure.

She heard shuffling behind her, but she wouldn’t turn around, wouldn’t stop crying, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging her legs close as she buried her face behind them.

“Pidge? What’s wrong?” Allura asked, her steps slow and careful.

“He’s, he’s _alive.”_ She stuttered, trying to speak as clearly as she could while sobbing. She shot her head up and stared at the other woman, tear-tracks framing her face. “Allura, he’s still alive!”

“W-who?” Pidge couldn’t blame her for looking so confused. They had lost a lot of allies over the years, either in battle or they disappeared without another word. So many allies, so many _friends,_ had been taken away too soon.

“It’s Hunk! I found him!”

xXx xXx

The first thing Hunk sensed was that he was laying on his stomach, his arms dangling under him and his face partially turned to the side from a pillow. He twitched his fingers, making sure he could still feel them, but any movement he made with his left arm brought a jolt of pain, making him groan softly.

He heard clipped footsteps pause when he made a sound, before it moved away. “He’s awake. Take him to his cell. I’ll need to check to make sure it doesn’t get too infected in a couple days. Don’t let him do anything idiotic.” The voice ordered from afar, and soon the sound of several feet were walking towards wherever Hunk had woken up in. It took him the amount of time for the steps to approach him, lift him somewhat carefully for his injured shoulder so he could stand.

He looked around the space to see it looked like a clinic of some kind, possibly an infirmary. He had been put on a strange looking bed with a section thinner than the rest to allow the arms to fall forward rather than having the arms by the body. The rest of the room had more beds, some cabinets and a desk off to one corner, by a door, where a Galra doctor seemed to be writing something on a holopad.

Hunk wasn’t given a lot of time to look around before he was pushed out of the room and marched away. It was in another place of the battleship - at least, he assumed he was still in Sendak’s battleship - from the solitary cell he had been first put into. The new cell was much larger, and as he was forced into the room, he saw he wasn’t the only prisoner.

The man was human, with gray hair and a small thick beard, both not well kept and shaggy. He looked very old, heavy wrinkles around his face. He wore rectangular glasses, the light from the hall glinting off of them before the door was shut behind Hunk.

The man was up and over to Hunk in an instant, looking over him carefully before he saw the thick padding around his shoulder. He sucked in a breath, his hands feather-light.

“They hurt you pretty badly.” He said softly, and Hunk felt a bit soothed simply by being with another human, even if they were both prisoners. “C’mon, sit down, careful now.”

Hunk sat down slowly but heavily, thanks to the other human with him, who sat across from him. Now that the hall lights weren’t reflecting off the glasses the man wore, Hunk could see he had familiar honey-brown eyes.

It took a couple moments before Hunk made the proper connection, and his eyes widened. “Commander Holt?” He asked, frowning.

The man - Pidge’s dad - blinked before recognition hit him as well, and the two simply stared at one another in disbelief. Hunk was overwhelmed by how old Mr. Holt looked, from the heavy wrinkles, to the wrinkled hands as well, shaking ever so slightly when they moved.

“What happened to you, Hunk? You hardly aged a day since I last saw you.” Mr. Holt questioned.

“I… How long ago was that?” Hunk asked instead, shaking his head.

Mr. Holt sighed, blowing the shaggy hair out of his face and shook his head a bit. “I couldn’t tell you precisely how long that’s been. Several years, at least.”

“Several?!” Hunk yelped, jostling his shoulder wound a bit too much and he groaned in pain, bending forward as he wrapped his good arm around himself.

“Careful, son, careful. You’ll reopen the wounds.” Mr. Holt carefully brought Hunk back to a sitting position, watching him warily. “They looked pretty bad. You shouldn’t be trying to move so much.”

“But,” Hunk sucked in a pained breath, “I’ve been in cryosleep for _several_ years?!”

“Cryosleep?” Mr. Holt frowned, so Hunk did his best to explain what happened, starting from the mission, to when he learned Sendak was the Galra emperor.

“What happened while I was frozen, sir?” He asked, his concern not even subtle.

Mr. Holt shook his head, looking a bit helpless. “I… don’t really know. When I got back to Earth, it was soon invaded by that Sendak creature. We weren’t prepared, not nearly prepared for the assault he led on the planet. Took him about four years to win, and he took all the officers and cadets prisoner.” He shook his head more sadly, gazing down at the floor. “The poor kids. I don’t even know where they are anymore, don’t know where anyone from the Garrison were taken to once they left this cell.” He sighed heavily.

“Wh… Sendak invaded Earth?!” Hunk did his best not to move much, but it was a very hard task. He stared at Mr. Holt with wide eyes, as if hoping maybe, somehow, he had misheard every single thing that had come out of the older man’s mouth. “And won?!”

“We tried, but Earth’s defences weren’t remotely as strong as we needed them to be, and some of the higher ups backstabbed us into surrendering when it was evident it was between giving up, or letting the planet and all the innocent people get destroyed. During the years before we surrendered, we called for help from Voltron, but we never heard back from them.” Mr. Holt leaned back, his head down. “I don’t know what happened to them. Last news I heard including them were they were still kicking, still managing to be pests to the Galra, after their former leader passed away.”

“That’s… good to hear. I guess. I’m glad they’re still out there.” Hunk frowned slightly, trying to hide it from Pidge’s dad, but he caught it quickly.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t understand what happened to me. Before waking up, I had gotten injected with something that made me pass out on a planet. I feel pretty sure I was with the others when I got put into the pod, but when I got out, the Galra had taken over it. I don’t know how long I’d been a prisoner for the Galra without even knowing.”

“That can be pretty scary.” Mr. Holt agreed. It didn’t do much to reassure him. “I wish I could give you more information, but I don’t have many.”

“It’s okay, sir.” Hunk mumbled, the thrill and adrenaline from the day had seemed to slip away, leaving him exhausted. He leaned against the wall, hissing softly when he jostled his left shoulder again.

“You should get some sleep. It’ll help with the healing.”

Hunk hummed, and was soon helped by Mr. Holt to lay down on his right side. He grunted and whined every time he jolted his own arm but soon managed to settle.

“Mr. Holt?” He asked, after a couple seconds, waiting until he hummed in acknowledgement to speak again. “What… what did he do? To my… my back?”

He was quiet for a long time. Hunk wasn’t sure if he had fallen asleep or what before he heard a soft cough. “Are you sure you want to know what they did?”

“Yes.”

“They… They branded you.” Mr. Holt spoke hesitantly, and when Hunk turned his head to face the much older man, he saw how he looked deeply concerned, glancing at his shoulder like he could see everything that happened underneath the bandages. “Carved a nasty looking symbol onto you.”

Hunk had no energy to react much at all to what Mr. Holt told him, and soon found himself embracing the escape from the pain, and fell into a fitful sleep.

xXx xXx

Hunk stayed with Mr. Holt until his shoulder was mostly healed, which took about a week. During that week, Hunk rested whenever he wasn’t seeing the doctor that was making sure he didn’t die of infection, while Mr. Holt was made to work with other smart prisoners, using their intelligence for the bad guys under constant threat of their loved ones would be hurt. Hunk learned Mrs. Holt was being used against Mr. Holt to keep him in line.

“She’d probably kick me if she knew I was doing this for her, but she’s always been the spitfire between us. Katie and Matt certainly got that from her.” Mr. Holt had said a couple days before Hunk was moved cells, chuckling as he spoke. “I bet she’s giving whoever’s keeping her locked up hell, as well. I just hope I get to see her again.”

Hunk hoped he was right about that, but never got to say that outloud to Mr. Holt. The last time he saw the older man, he had been certain he’d see him again when he returned, but the doctor had said he was to be moved to his proper cell. Sendak’s orders, apparently.

He was brought to a hall out of the way of most things, but it was heavily guarded. High-class prisoners, from what he could guess, but very few of the cells were holding anyone. Hunk wasn’t sure if he should feel flattered or not about being considered a high-class prisoner, but he guessed it was because of his status of being the Yellow Paladin. He could say he was simply relieved he hadn’t been executed, considering how bloodthirsty the Galra that followed Zarkon or Sendak seemed to be.

The cell was about as large as the one he had shared with Mr. Holt, but it was vaguely furnished. There was a cot, a latrine that was sectioned off to allow for the faintest amount of privacy, and something that made a table and chair out of one wall. The table and chair only extended out when he was given meals, and the moment he finished, the meals and water would be taken away and the table and chair would melt back into the wall, seamlessly.

After the first day of being in his cell alone, without any Galra coming to bring him anywhere, Hunk decided to try getting his muscles back into working order. He had gone a while without doing much, and found, if he couldn’t do anything to keep his mind from wandering, he might as well keep his strength up. He wasn’t sure what Sendak had in store for him, unless he was planning on letting him rot in a cell by himself until he passed away, but he wanted to at least try to be prepared.

xXx xXx

It sounded while Hunk was in the middle of his push-ups, careful with the still-tender shoulder blade wound. The wound would leave a nasty scar, even if he was put into a healing pod, according to the doctor who had been keeping an eye on his recovery - sped up with some quintessence infused around the wound - so it would always be a part of him. Hunk found it lucky he could barely see it, since he would have to twist around to catch even the smallest glance of it.

As he pushed up, at the start a new set, the klaxon sound of an alarm wailed outside his cell, echoing down the halls. He felt the deep rumbly growl and a satisfaction that didn’t come from him and he could make up the connections from there.

He scrambled to his feet, hissing as he pushed off with his left hand, straining the still-healing scarring, and looked between the bed and the door. He sat on the bed, rubbing his arm to try to soothe his shoulder. While he had no idea what was really happening, he was hopeful that it meant he would be saved, and however many others his friends could save, if they could.

It didn’t take long before the sounds of fighting reached his hall. Blaster fire, metal scraping against metal, and the grunts and breaths of the living taking or dodging hits.

Waiting was nerve-wracking and never-ending. Hunk waited on bated breath as the sounds of fighting grew closer and closer before he heard something on the other side of the door, and soon enough, it hissed open and he saw his saviour.

It took several moments to recognize who it was. A lithe frame, still somewhat small but much taller than the last time Hunk had remembered, but the green armour was unforgettable.

“Hunk?” Pidge questioned - no, it wasn’t so much a question as a hope, he realized by the wary, scared tone - and he realized it had changed pitch by a little bit. She sounded as much a young woman as her outline suggested.

“Pidge!” He cried, wrapping his good arm around her before she could yelp at the sudden embrace, but he felt her quickly try to wrap her arms around his waist, as much as her slim short arms could reach, anyway.

The hug lasted a few long seconds before Pidge pulled away. “We have to get out of here now. I got him!” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and she cleared her throat. “Come on.”

Pidge led him out of his cell, where he saw a the blue suit a ways away picking off sentries and soldiers from a distance, the blaster looking sleeker and smaller but longer. Once they caught up to him, he stopped and they all took off, Hunk having no idea where they were going but trusting his friends to know the fastest way to escape.

And fastest way to escape they went. It seemed the others were busy distracting most of the fighters in space while Pidge and Lance came to retrieve him, with both Green and Red waiting for them. Lance raced up Red and soon took off, having Hunk follow Pidge up into Green before they were off and out of the battleship.

“Gods, you have no idea how weird it is to see you still be a teenager, Hunk.” Pidge said, yanking off her helmet as Green wove around attacks coming their way. He noticed she had much longer hair, tied in a loose low ponytail. “You haven’t aged at all.”

“Yea, well.” Hunk shrugged, feeling the burning question resurface and maybe, just maybe, he’d finally get to know the answer. “How… How long _has_ it been?”

Pidge grew quiet, focusing on piloting for a bit. Hunk couldn’t tell if she were collecting her thoughts, or if she didn’t want to admit to him how long he had been frozen, away from them all.

“You were…” She started after a full minute of silence between them. She wouldn’t look at him, keeping her eyes on the screens lit up around her as she moved the Green Lion with a sense of ease Hunk had never seen from her - or any of the others, really. “It’s… it’s been a while, Hunk. I mean, that Galra bitch managed to eject all of us from the Castle practically a day or something after Lance found you unconscious. And that was…” He couldn’t tell if she was pausing because of hesitance or if she were calculating the time in her head.

She took a deep breath, her face pale, and she bit her lip. “You’ve been asleep for about fifteen years now, Hunk.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [ LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:  
> Feedback
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> This author replies to comments.
> 
> So, what do yall think? What could have changed in 15 years for the other Paladins?


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